Video: Lisa Leslie on carrying the torch

posted by anngaff, a Women Talk Sports blogger
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 6:30pm EDT

About anngaff:

Chief Technical Officer, Women Talk Sports. I competed in Track & Field and Cross-Country in college at the University of Nebraska and competed professionally in Track & Field (3000m Steeplechase) fr...more

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At the 2011 Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year banquet in Hollywood, California, I spoke with basketball legend Lisa Leslie (4-time Olympic gold medalist and the first woman to dunk in a WNBA game) about carrying the torch that has been passed from generation to generation of basketball players, making the game grow and evolve so that each wave of women has more opportunities than the preceding one.

Leslie graduated from USC a couple years before the WNBA had formed, so she played overseas as well as for the United States in the 1996 Olympics, during which she earned the single-game U.S. Olympic record for most points with 35. After the Games, women’s basketball had gained momentum in the U.S. and the WNBA was formed. Leslie was selected to play for her hometown team, the Los Angeles Sparks, for whom she played until she announced her retirement at the end of the 2009 season.

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2011 Gatorade Athlete of the Year Awards

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Video: Lisa Leslie on carrying the torch

2011 Gatorade Athlete of the Year Awards

Lisa Leslie

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